Death of a Loved One
by AlldaladiesluvLeo123
Summary: A one-shot (maybe) in which people from Camp who are very close to Leo and Piper are killed. Their friends support them as they go through the emotional trauma. Supposed to have more than one chapter. But, only if I get enough reviews. R and R!
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I know, I know. I should be working on my other fic. But, I had to get this one out there, the plot bunny was practically attacking me. Warning: Supposed to be sad, kind of minor character death. This is also supposed to be a one-shot, but I might add more to it, depends on if I get enough reviews for it... Takes place somewhere in between THoH and TBoO. Has a minor House of Hades spoiler...

-AdllL123

Disclaimer: I don't own the awesomeness that is Leo Valdez or the Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series or the Heroes of Olympus Series...

* * *

A breathless laugh was released into the air followed by a few easy chuckles. It was an average day on the Argo 2, Coach Hedge was yelling at pigeons, Jason and Piper were laughing with each other, Percy and Annabeth were discussing battle plans, and Frank and Hazel were trying (_trying_ being the key-word there) to help Leo with ship repairs.

A light breeze swept over the deck and the sun shone warmly over their heads creating a sort of security in the air. They all conversed amongst each other calmly, on guard for the worst(as always), but at ease..

Everything, so far, was alright this particular day, and therefore, safe. No monsters, no problems, no worries.

But that's where every demigod makes their first mistake. Nothing is ever simply 'alright' ,and in the world of the Greeks and Romans nothing will ever, _ever_ be something so unreachable, and kind as '_safe_'.

A watery rainbow shimmered into view, startling the demigods for a moment. Grins faltered, and a sudden disquiet covered the previous atmosphere like a smothering blanket. They hadn't received an Iris Message in a good long while; the party of eight also happened to recall the many times they had seen an IM in periods of war and ruin such as this the message was always one sad tidings and stress.

In the image of mist sat Chiron, his face weary and worn, a look that was starting to become constant expression that said centaur wore.

Now it's not to say that Frank and Hazel weren't worried, they were; but they couldn't be as worried as the rest of them were.

Coach Hedge had a wife and a soon-to-be-born child at Camp; Jason, although he hadn't been going to Camp Half-Blood as long as he had been going to Camp Jupiter, loved it, the place was his home away from home. Percy and Annabeth had both been going there for about as long as they could remember, and the thought of any one else they knew dying or being hurt again was too overwhelming; if Camp had been destroyed... Leo and Piper both had siblings at Camp, some they didn't know as well as others, but they did care for all of them, a select few of them were actually quite dear to them; but they wanted to get to know them more, love them all like real brothers and sisters. If their siblings' lifes had been cut short before they had that chance, Piper and Leo probably would regret the missed time for the rest of the lives.

A bated silence was washed between every one, suspense and distress crawling up their throats. No one made a move, or a sound; they were all too afraid to break the quiescent, not knowing what words had in store for their home, Camp Half-Blood.

Finally, the torturous unsoundliness, that had in reality only lasted mere seconds, was shattered by a firm, but caring voice from the other side of the Iris message.

"Leo, Piper, I'll need to speak with you both for a moment. Alone." Chiron said heavily, albeit calmly.

An ice-cold dread seeped into their veins and pumped into their blood. '_N__o, no, no, no, no, no, no!'_ This could _not _be happening! Leo stiffly stepped backward, he couldn't bear the thought of any more of his family being gone. First his mom, then Festus, now _this_!? It wasn't fair!

'_Is it Lacy, is it Shane?!' _Piper could never forgive herself if they had been taken away from her; if _any_ of her siblings had been stolen by death, _even Drew!_ she would cry herself to sleep. Lacy and Shane were one of the very few that had actually been nice to her in the Aphrodite cabin when she'd first arrived; she was so close to them now, even the thought of them hurt...

Jason glanced at his girlfriend, scared of what this talk might do to her; he had no idea if it had to do with their stance as cabin leaders or their siblings. Oh, and Leo, his best friend; how would this affect him!? He didn't want Leo to feel like he'd lost another piece of himself. He didn't want his best friend to have another reason to be hurt. Another reason to hate himself.

Percy and Annabeth both breathed a silent sigh of relief. But, don't get them wrong, they were very worried for Leo and Piper. They hoped and prayed to the gods that it was only some stupid cabin leader problem and not their friends' loved ones, they knew that awful feeling of sorrow all too well. They really, _really_ wanted for that to be the reason, just a trivial, old cabin leader problem; but there was one thing that bothered them, if it had been a cabin leader issue... wouldn't they have been asked to be talked to, as well? Percy and Annabeth shared a scared glance for their friends. What was going to _happen_?

Hazel and Frank didn't know Chiron, but they had heard of him before, and they knew that if one of their friends was being IM'ed by him then something serious was going on. Hazel reached for Frank's hand for some comfort in this uneasy situation, she bit her lip; _'Poor Leo. Oh, and what about Piper!? Whatever this is, I hope it doesn't hurt them, their lives have probably already been difficult enough...' _

Frank didn't know if Piper or Leo had any important friends or close siblings at their camp, but he prayed to Mars, and Hera, Jupiter, and every other Roman god that Leo and Piper would be okay. Piper and him weren't close, but Leo and him were past the whole Sammy thing and were starting to become much better friends; sure they'd might've gotten off to a rough start, but he'd never wish something ill on the fire-user...

Chiron gave them a stern look, they obviously couldn't take part in this. '_Please let them be ok.' ' Hopefully, just a cabin leader problem.' ' Poor Piper and Leo...' ' How will this affect them...'_

Jason kissed Piper on the cheek and gave Leo a meaningful look that clearly said,'_Good luck_'. The demigods and Coach all slowly filed down the hall to discuss their worry for their friends with each other; the rest of the Seven felt almost like they were leaving their friends behind to face a deadly monster by themselves. Whatever was happening, they would have to be there for them after...

Leo watched his friends walk down the hall to their rooms, he felt almost betrayed. He rigidly turned his head back to the Iris message. Piper was the first one to break the silence.

"So, umm, what did you need to talk to us about?", she said; her voice only quavered slightly. Leo thought she was very firm in her words, he knew she was just as worried about the situation as he was. If he were in her position, he probably wouldn't have been able to get one stuttering sentence out.

Leo's hands started shaking- badly, he put them in his pockets to make the shaking lessen. He lifted his eyes to the IM. Chiron opened his mouth, then closed it, as if he didn't know what to say, he had thousands of years of experience bearing bad news. It never got any easier.

After a while, he took a deep breath and said,"Let me put this bluntly, I don't want to drag this on any longer. Leo, Piper...not all of them are, but... your siblings are dead.

The cool breeze seemed to turn harsh, and eerie, while the warm sunlight turned hot, and stifling, a sort of overbearing enmity created by the mood and nature of the words that were spoken.

_'Your siblings are dead."_ rang through Leo and Piper's ears; the last words that they heard that day before chaos erupted.

* * *

Author's Note: Should I make this a one-shot or should it continue? Please review! Give me your opinions, I need answers! Tell me if I made any mistakes. Love ya!

-AdllL123


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: I weep at the lack of reviews, but for the ones who did, I will continue! I don't think I'd like that as an ending anyway... Anyway, so if you guys have any ideas for the story you'd like me to put in or try out, will do! Ok, so disclaimer and then on to the story...

Disclaimer:

Wish I may,

Wish I might,

To snuggle with Leo Valdez tonight,

But since I'm not,

As you can see,

Heroes of Olympus does not belong to me...

* * *

Piper hadn't cried in a while; honestly, she tried not to cry at all, it was a sign of weakness, in her opinion. But this- _this_, was definitely an exception. As soon as Chiron had said the words a wave of sorrow and blankness wrapped over her like a cold and unforgiving snake.

She had run out of the room so fast. No matter how much Piper closed her eyes and wished for it to be a long and awful nightmare, she would open her eyes and it would still be reality. It was still true.

Piper sniffled and curled into her blanket. She vaguely remembered running past Percy and Annabeth and into her room. How long had she been here; weeping? Did Jason know what had happened? Did the others? Maybe Leo had explained it to them...

Oh, gods. Poor Leo.

How was he dealing with this? She had learned from the many days spent with Leo at the _Wilderness School_ that he had very little family. Well, technically- none at all. But, it was different now, he had her and the other five demigods on the _Argo 2_. He also happened to be really close to his siblings at _Camp_. And some of his siblings were dead.

Oh, gods, she knew how much emotional trauma he had heaped on him since the time he was eight. And Piper _also_ knew how Leo had dealt with _Festus_, whom he'd only known for a few days, when he had been shot down. Before that Piper had never seen him cry before. And she couldn't even _begin _to understand how Leo had dealt with his _mother's_ death. All she knew based on the stories of what Leo had told her when it was just them two at the _Wilderness School_ was that it was terrifying, dangerous, and most of his life was spent running from foster homes.

Frank had once told her and Jason that Annabeth had this theory about why Leo acted the way he did; humor was a defense when he was nervous or sad- Annabeth was almost never wrong, and she was really smart when it came to how people acted and why.

How many times did Leo use humor a day? What had he gone through before they'd met? How... how was he going to be now; for the third time, someone he loved dearly had been lost to death. How would this change him?

A knock on her door interrupted Piper's tangent.

"Can I come in?" sounded a muffled voice from the hallway. Frank.

"Yes.", she croaked, gods, she sounded horrible.

Frank peeked his head in through the doorway nervously," It's time for a meeting."

* * *

Leo hadn't felt this way in a long time; not since _Festus_ crashed, and not since his mom died. It had taken years to get over that; long, horrible, grueling years of burying pain over layers and layers of lies and jokes.

This time, though, Leo couldn't run away from the pain, or from the deaths of his loved ones. When his mom had died he'd faced foster homes, new schools, and new people; Leo had been in 9 foster homes, and faced 17 foster parents, he'd run away from 6 of the homes, and longed for the love of only three of his previous foster parents.

Now _that_ was a really long and awful tale; one Leo didn't think he'd _ever_ be ready to share with his friends. At least not until he could get over the pain it carried.

But, that was in the past- the painful, but true, past.

This was now- and this was real.

Harley and Nyssa. Two of his most cherished siblings. _Dead_. No, it couldn't be just one of his siblings; that would've been hard enough, but _two_! -two of them had been taken by Death! This wasn't fair! After all he'd gone through, after all he'd suffered...why would the Fates do this to him? To his siblings...

* * *

Percy had been talking with Annabeth in the hallway when they saw Piper run past with her hands over her mouth and tears in her eyes; she slammed her bedroom door behind her causing a loud _bang _to be heard throughout the ship. Percy and Annabeth shared a horrified glance. Their suspicions were true.

They obviously knew Piper was in her room, and she didn't look like she wanted to explain anytime soon. Knowing who was dead and how important they were to Piper was a very vital step they'd need to take to help her with this. So, who could they talk to about this? Leo.

A silent understanding went through Percy and Annabeth; they'd need the details from the one person who was there besides Piper. They turned towards the deck; they always could read each other like a book( although they had trouble with reading books).

However, Leo found them before they could reach the deck; and to be honest- he looked _awful_.

There was this hollow look in his eyes that they'd never seen before; as if the sparkle in his eyes had died. Leo was expressionless as one of the machines he'd created; they knew that this was the face of hopelessness. Looking at Leo like this; it was scary.

He stumbled down the hallway in a dazed way, like he didn't know where he was or why he was there. He was pale and clutching the front of his shirt like his chest was _actually_ hurting from heart ache. Leo gripped the wall and stumbled past them while they stared on in horror.

Suddenly, he breathing became rapid and frantic, and he had this look in his eyes that told of grief and misery, like everything that had happened had just caught up to him in one tidal wave of sorrow; he was sweating and his face looked almost the color of dough. Leo's eyes fluttered and then closed; the hand that clutched the wall lost it's grip and slid down.

"Leo!" Percy caught him just before he slammed into the wooden floor. Annabeth and Percy looked at each other in rising trepidation and they knew that after this encounter, that Leo would never be the same.

* * *

Author's Note: There are still a lot of things unsaid in this chapter; I'll be getting around to it in the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Thank you guys **so** much for the reviews! There weren't that many, but they still made me feel _way_ more motivated; here's a tip: giving me reviews that make me feel happy also make me feel guilty and write more often and faster, or they just make me feel ultra happy and write faster! Thank you guys! And by the way, I didn't put a lot of the other characters in the last chapter; that was for a reason( that I cannot share of course). Oh, and I had to make it clear that I do not own a computer of my own; I actually use school computers to write these! So, chapters will be sporadic and may have long periods of time in between them! So, sorry! Read and Review!

Disclaimer:

Unfortunately, I don't own the awesomeness that is Leo Valdez, or Percy Jackson, or Annabeth Chase. However, Rick Riordan does. If I owned the Heroes of Olympus series then the characters may suffer more mental scarring or less. (Not sure.)

* * *

Hazel was absolutely worried; that was the only words for what she was feeling right now. First, this whole IM thing with Piper and Leo, then the suspenseful amounts of time waiting for them to finish with the whole ordeal, and then she gets news from Annabeth that Piper was in her room crying and Leo had fainted from some sort of trauma induced depression! And she _still_ had no idea what was going on!

But, one thing was for certain; they were definitely having a meeting- whatever this was, it had to be _very_ important.

Just then, Frank walked in Hazel's room looking in between confused and somber; he didn't have much of an idea of what was happening either. Great.

"So... Do you know anything about Piper or Leo, or why their acting, uh... the way they are?", Hazel asked; she didn't have the slightest clue what to think, there was so many things that could've happened to them in less then three minutes.

"I don't really know much, yet, but Annabeth said the reason Leo collapsed was because of something called melon-, milen-, melonch- ughh!" Frank paused, obviously frustrated," I _really_ don't know how to pronounce it, but it's a mental condition from serious depression, or something, and uh, and Annabeth said it really hit him bad this time..." A thought snapped into Hazel's head from an early memory of Camp Jupiter.

"Melancholia?!" Hazel had heard of that condition before; two teenagers from the Second, and Fifth Cohort had gotten that after the Titan War in a battle on Mount Tam. One of them had commit suicide; it had been a terrible, _terrible_ thing to think about for the campers who'd witnessed it.

She'd had to treat the other one when the Apollo campers were busy with a patient who'd needed major surgery, that, in fact, had included _all_ of them. It had been a really _horrible_ case of depression; honestly, it had kind of freaked out Hazel for a long time because there was always this haunted look in the girl's eyes. To think of Leo ever having that...

"Yeah, apparently he got it around the time he was twelve and it hasn't kicked in in a while. Er- but it did earlier, and, uh, Annabeth told me Leo probably won't be up for a while." Frank said nervously, scratching the back of his head.

A thoughtful silence met them both, filling the room in a suffocating way. Hazel sighed and put her hand over her eyes, this was bad. Leo was out cold, Piper probably felt like she was drowning in the Rivers of Misery, and Hazel _still_ had no idea why they were both so hurt right now.

Frank seemed to hesitate, then continued softly," Um, Annabeth said that when she and Percy were finished assessing Leo, then we'd had a meeting."

"Good." Hazel thought for a second," Ugh, oh gods, what about Jason!? Leo's his best friend, and you know how much Piper and Jason love each other. He must be out of his mind right now! Oh, gods..." That's something Hazel hadn't thought about; poor Jason, his girlfriend was sobbing her eyes out right about now, and Leo- well, she wasn't sure what was going on with Leo at the moment, but it ought to be bad-and for the time being, there was nothing Jason could do to help. Now that _had_ to be a really awful feeling.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Frank informing her," Yeah, Annabeth told him to see if he could activate the auto pilot until Leo's able control the ship himself; and he probably won't be able to _that_ for a while, so..." A few seconds passed before he continued.

"Yeah, Jason's taking it pretty rough; he still doesn't know what Chiron said to them; er- well frankly, _none_ of us do. So, I guess, for now, we'll just have to wait it out and see what happens at the meeting."

A void quiet helplessness passed before Hazel shook her head in disbelief, "After all that's been happening, this is the one thing we didn't need; more things to eat our hearts inside-out. Leo and Piper don't deserve to go through _this_. None of us do."

Hazel felt that she needed to throw that out there. These trials of life were almost too much for even demigods to handle; sometimes it made her angry or defiant; at whom she was still not sure of.

A loud knock sounded at the door, making them both jump.

Hazel exhaled, then asked "Who is it?"

There was an immediate answer: "It's Percy.", said a muted voiced that had the decency to sound stressed.

She didn't answer at first because she was thinking; Percy and Annabeth had taken a long time stabilizing Leo, how bad was his melancholia? She knew that the condition itself was serious, but how bad was it _really_, for Leo? They'd probably discussed it; Hazel made a note to ask one of them about it later.

"You can come in." Percy poked his head through the doorway; he looked worried. And even though his body didn't show it; his eyes showed a tiredness that they all felt; Hazel suspected that the son of Poseidon was exhausted mostly from listening to Annabeth give off science-y medical terms and worry for Piper and Leo.

" It's time for a meeting," He looked at the son of Mars like he wanted to tell him something, but also seemed to be staring off into the distance at the same time. He blinked as if coming out of a troubled dream.

" Frank could you gather everybody?" said person responded with a curt nod and a weary frown.

" Where do you want us to meet?"

" Annabeth said the dining hall would be fine; we have a lot of important things to discuss.", Percy replied and then rushed off to attend to other things.

Hazel gave Frank a kiss on the cheek," I'll see you there.", then followed in suit of Percy.

'_Yes_,' she thought,'_ There will be a _lot_ of things to discuss._'

* * *

Author's Note: Give me advice if you think I need it; tell me if you think it's moving too fast or if I made any mistakes and I'll make some changes. Unfortunately, I had to cut this chapter off half-way. I'll put more of Leo in the 4th chapter and I'll also put the meeting in there. So sorry! D: I'll try to update as soon as possible, but no promises because Christmas is always very busy; this chapter could've been better if I had more time to put the rest in. So, I'll say it again, sorry! Love you all please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: I'm so sorry I left you guys with such a sucky chapter! Christmas has really kept me busy with family! ( No offense, Family; I love you all) And then there's the whole New Year's Eve going on...And school... Hey! Hey! I just realized I haven't updated since last year! Ha, ha, ha... ha.. ha. Not actually funny. ( Just joking, I'm sure we all heard a joke some what like that just as it turned 12:01 on New Year's Day. Anyway, I just had to say thank you to readingaddict24 for the pointers; I'll get around to fixing up Chap. 3 after I finish Chap. 4. And of course, to all my other lovely followers, thank you, so much! And as a hint to rock legend 166, I gave you a helpful message in your PM box! Now, that that's all said and done: story time!

Disclaimer:

Rick Riordan is a troll among trolls,

In fact, he is their king.

Unfortunately, without him,

Heroes of Olympus would cease to be.

And while I regret to say,

this devastating news,

Heroes of Olympus is not mine,

And for that, I suffer the blues.

* * *

Leo didn't want to open his eyes; opening his eyes meant facing the world. And facing the world meant cruel reality and constant heartbreak. His heart had been broken too many times to be bandaged and salvaged, again; he'd faced hardships, grief, pain, regret, but now Leo didn't think he could overcome those obstacles, anymore. No, that wasn't true. What he really meant was that he didn't think he could hide those degrading feelings from others. _That_ was what really seemed impossible now.

Leo kept his eyes closed. He'd woken up about a half an hour ago, but he refused to "wake up" and walk straight into reality's cold, vice-like grip like a gullible target of the Fates. Plus, he couldn't let the others see him like this; scarred and broken.

_'No,_' he thought, ' _I'll stay here 'till I can pull my act together, and then I'll pretend like this never happened._' Yes, that was the plan (most of the time it was); Plan B: _Humor is a good way to hide the pain._

This plan usually never failed him; and if it did just that, there was always Plan A: _Run away; they can never stop you from running. _If his siblings or friends tried to catch him, well, he _was_ experienced in hiding from people, what with it being almost the majority of his whole life; he'd work it out or eventually get eaten by a monster. Either way worked for him.

The sound of a door creaking open filled the air that smelled of sweat and sickness. Leo lengthened his breath and stilled his body, feigning sleep. He didn't want a pity party right now; he was tired of that sort of stuff, for the time being he needed to get over the shock and pain.

"Leo, I know you're awake.", came a usually sweet voice, that instead sounded groggy-ish and hinted with deep sorrow.

"Nice to see you, too, Piper." Leo still didn't open his eyes; it was one thing to be in pain, it was an entirely different to see a _friend_ in pain. He _knew_ he couldn't do this right no; sure, it was comforting that she worried about him, but if he talked to Piper right now it would tear him down and he'd probably end up the way he had in the hallway.

Leo curled further into the blankets, they smelled kind of rusty because of the ship's atmosphere; but Leo liked it, it was comforting and it reminded him of his and his mom's home back in Texas. It brought painful memories, but the nostalgia caused him to grip the blanket tighter.

"Do you want to talk about it? I mean, they always say stuff like that in the movies, but-" Piper shifted uncomfortably," I just need to talk to somebody who completely understands what I'm going through; I mean, you know Percy and Annabeth have lost friends, but they've already gotten past that stuff, and, uh, they can handle these type of situations. I mean-they've been doing these type of things a _lot_ longer than us. And Jason has been at Camp Jupiter for who knows how long, so..." Leo noticed she was rambling and by now he got the gist of what she was saying.

"Company's good enough, talking about it comes later; I've been to enough psychiatrists to know that." To be honest Leo didn't want company, he'd become too self-reliant over the years, and he didn't have that much practice in comforting others. But, for his best friend's sake he'd do it; the gods know that she'd need the company of someone who understood. It was the least he could do for one of the first people he'd met who'd actually cared for him; him the seventh wheel, the 'little orphan boy' with no family, or friends.

Piper looked at him and smiled softly, she was still sad; but small acts of kindness would not go unseen by her. She was well aware that Leo wasn't used to having people to care for, and mostly people to care for him; but it made content to know that he was at least trying.

She sat down in a chair next to the bed as she thought in the silence- the good kind, where you feel almost peaceful. She pondered how she was going to get through this, how she could get over this painful obstacle; but as soon as the solutions rushed to her head, she was interrupted.

"Piper?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

* * *

Author's Note: Ok, I know that one was really short; for those of you who like mental and/or physical pain towards characters, there is definitely some being delivered to my doc manger by yours truly. I wanted to add this chapter because I think I wanted a little bit of happy-sad moments between Leo and Piper (This is not a Piper/Leo fic). I still haven't done the meeting but that will most definitely be the next chapter. I noticed I've been all over the place with people's POVs. If you have any questions/suggestions in mind for any reasons, please review. Love you all, thanks to those who reviewed!

In all your demigodishness,

Peace out.


End file.
